Carpet stretcher



D United States Patent [n1 3,5 7,

[72] Inventor Eugene J. Tasse 5 References Chad 2| A I N rgfi f UNITED STATES PATENTS f 968 D. 2 .674 6/1892 Irwin 294/86 [45] Patented m. ,5 1970 2,882,642 4/1959 Hill 294l8.6 I73] Assignee Taylor Industries, Inc. Primary Examiner-Andres H. Nielsen Industry, Calif. Attorney-Fulwider, Patton, Rieber. Lee & Utecht a corporation of (Ialil'ornia [54] CARPET STRE'I'CIIER 1 6 l ABSTRACT: A carpet stretcher. having a head with sawtooth- [52 1 us. Cl. 294/85 shaped teeth for gag g a a p t. and attached to an ex- {51 Int, Cl, A47 17/04 tendible rod with a knee cushion at the other end so that pres- (501 Field hrsmch 294/8.6; sure on the cushion urges the head forward to stretch a carpet which the sawteeth have engaged.

CARPET STRETCI-IER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION I. This invention lies within the field of carpet stretchers.

2. A carpet stretcher is used in the laying of carpeting to insure that the finished installation willpresent a smooth, unwrinkled appearance. Such stretchers are particularly useful when wall-to-wall carpeting is being laid, and the stretcher is used to pull the periphery of the carpet taut prior to its being secured adjacent a wall. Usually, carpet stretchers have a head with a plurality of sharp prongs that extend'downwardly to grip the backing of the carpet. In some instances, the head is attachedto one end of a rod, with a pad at the other end, and the entire stretcher is urged forward by striking the pad with knee, while the pronged head engages the carpet. Other stretchers have means adapted to .bear against an opposite wall, with mechanical means to urge the head and means apart, thus stretchingthe carpet. 1 ,i

Carpeting comes in a variety of styles, including deep pile, short pile, and carved pile," and the professional carpet layer must have equipment that will work, with all-styles. Heretofore, it has been customary to use carpet stretchers having heads with longer but fewer pins projecting downward to engage the backing of deep pile carpeting, while heads with shorter but more pins have been used with'short pile carpeting. Some carpet stretchers have combined the short pins with adjustable length long pins in an attempt to provide a universal" head. The US. Pat. to Hopkins, No. 2,631,403, shows such an adjustable device. However, unless just the right selection or adjustment is made, trouble is likely. If short pins are used on a deep pile carpet, the pins will not penetrate to the backing, and only the pile will be engaged-As a result, the pile is often pulled out of the carpeting. If long pins are used that penetrate completely through the carpeting, the padding underneath is often ripped and shredded.

It will be appreciated that most wall-to-wall carpeting presentlyis installed by impaling the edges on what is commonly known as tackless strips. The .tackless strip consists of a narrow strip of plywood through which pointed pins project upwardly, at an angle to the upper surface of the strip. The strip is firmly nailed or held to the floor with a space or gully" between the wall and the adjacent edge of the strip, and with the pins extending upwardlyand toward the wall. The edge of the tightly pulled carpet is pressed down over the pins, and the cut edge is tucked into the gully-. Because the pins point toward the wall, tension pullingthe edge of the carpet away from the wall forces the carpet .downwardly, toward the plywood strip, and thus more firmly anchors-the carpet on the pins. It is thus very important that the carpet be properly stretched and properly impaled on the pins in order to secure a good, lasting job.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Basically, this invention provides a carpet stretcher having a plurality of sawtoothed blades whose teeth penetrate the carpet pile when the blades are laid on the surface of a carpet, and are pushed downwardly into the pileiWhile the sawteeth sink into the pile and generally engage the backing, they do not tend to pass through the backing, thereby eliminating engagement with the padding under the carpet. A further advantage is that the teeth are designed to prevent tearing the pile from the carpet and to penetrate sufficiently into the carpet to insure good engagement with the -'pile ,the backing, or both, to apply the necessary stretching force.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the carpet stretcher with a head at one end engaging a carpet, and with a cushion at the other end being urged by a person's'knee FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the'head of the carpet stretcher with a portion broken away to show .the relationship of the teeth to the head;

FIG. 3 is a front elevational view of the head of the carpet stretcher, partially broken away;

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the carpet stretcher head with a fragment of the attached shank shown;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view of the teeth in their mounting, taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of one of the blades.

DESCRIPTION OF THE SPECIFIC EMBODIMENT Referring now specifically to FIG. l,'the .carpet stretcher shown comprises a head 10 attached to one end of an extendible shank 12, having a pad 14 at the other end. The head 10 has means engaging a carpet 16, so that when the head is driven, as by a persons knee striking the pad 14, in the direction of arrow A, the carpet 'will be appropriately stretched in the same direction.

The extendible shank 12 consists of an outer tube 18 and an inner tube 20 which slides within the outer tube. The inner tube 20 has one or more spring-loaded pins which project outwardly through a series of holes 22 in the outer tube 18. The spring-loaded pins can be squeezed inwardly through the holes 22, enabling the inner tube 20 to bemoved within the outer tube 18 for adjustment of the length of the shank 12. One end of the shank 12 is affixed to the head 10, and the other end is attached to a cup-shaped cap 24 into which the pad I4 is seated and secured. Carpet stretchers including a head 10, a shank l2, and a pad 14 are generally known in the trade as knee kickers." v

Turning now to the head 10, and referring to FIGS. 2 through 6, the head is made of any suitable material and has a base portion 26 with a rear wall 28 shown as reinforced by two outer webs 29. The rear wall 28 has a socket 30 into which the shank 12 is attached. Preferably the base portion 26 is rather thin, to fit beneath overhanging cupboards and the like.

The base portion 26 of the head 10 has carpet-engaging elements 32 mounted on its lower surface by means of screws 34. As best seen in FIG. 4, the carpet-engaging'ele'ments 32 com-' prise a pair of blocks 36 each having a plurality of toothed blades 38.

The blocks 36 can be made of any suitable material, and in this embodiment are molded of a phenolic resin with blades 38 molded in them. The blades 38 are preferably stamped from sheet metal of a suitable thickness, having the general shape indicated in FIG. 6. The blades 38 are generally embedded in the plastic of the block 36 from the flat'upper surface to the dotted line 39 shown in FIG. 6. To help secure the blades 38 within the resin of the block 36, a series of holes 40 are provided within the embedded portion of the blades to permit the resin to extend through the blades and permanently anchor them in the block.

As mentioned, the blades 38 are formed from sheet metal of e a thickness sufficient to provide adequate strength and not to cut the pile or backing, while being thin enough to penetrate and engage the carpeting 16. By way of example, it has been found that sheet steel having a thickness of 0.024 inch meets the foregoing requirements. Blades 38 formed of such materi-. al are shown in FIG. 6, where it is seen that each blade has a series of teeth 42 along the lower edge of the blade, with the forward or leading edges 44 of the teeth projecting forwardly (to the left in FIG. 6). With the teeth 42 shaped in this manner, movement of the blade 38 forwardly,-to the left, will cause the teeth to move downwardly with the carpet 16 to stretch or pull the carpet to the left. Reversing the force withdraws the teeth from the carpet. If the blade 38 is tipped forwardly as it is moved to the right, the smooth tip 48 of the blade presses the carpet 16 down onto the pins of the tackless" strip, thus insuring that the carpet is retained in stretched condition.

While there is not set number of teeth necessary for each blade, nor a set number of blades, it has been found that if the teeth are spaced about three-eighths inch apart, with approximately seven or so on each blade, and if the blades are spaced in the order of one-quarter inch apart, a very satisfactory carpet stretcher is secured. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a total of 20 blades can be located in a head approximately 5 inches wide, and approximately 4 inches long, measured in the direction of the shank. Such a head is a convenient and eff- ,cient size, being small enough to fit into restricted areas, and large enough to stretch a sufficient amount of carpet to proa plurality of blades embedded in said block, each of said blades having a plurality of downwardly and forwardly extending teeth, each of said blades having a plurality of apertures through which means extend to anchor said blade in said block, said blades extending forwardly and rearwardly with the forward end of said blades being without teeth and substantially wholly embedded in said block to provide a smooth tip operable to press the carpet downwardly as said head is moved rearwardly to disengage said teeth.

2. A carpet stretcher as defined in claim 1, in which said block is molded ofa flowable material that passes through said apertures and surrounds the upper portion of each of said blades to firmly anchor said blades in said block. 

